


Calamity

by CosmicNoiz



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Canon Universe, Character Development, Daryl Dixon Needs a Hug, Daryl Dixon is Bad at Feelings, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, Emotional Sex, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, I'm Bad At Tagging, Insecure Daryl Dixon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Daryl Dixon, Sexual Tension, Slow Romance, Smut, Top Daryl Dixon, Walkers (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:21:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29833176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicNoiz/pseuds/CosmicNoiz
Summary: The world was a cruel and beautiful place, full of unknown surprises and death that littered the world like a wildfire since the apocalypse started. Neptune Malkovich was a lone wolf, surviving for five years solo since the death of her family at the start of the virus. A sassy, hot-headed young woman who always knew how to be calculative and survive solely on her own thanks to her father. Since she was alone for so long, Neptune yearns for the day she finds a safe haven and a group to support. When she gets chased by a group of walkers and has to scale up a tree, a young and beautiful blue-eyed redneck finds her curled up in the tree after taking out the walkers with his crossbow. Neptune Malkovich finds a will to survive longer, the desperation of human contact coming to fruition and settling her heart with a string tied around the redneck's finger. With the apocalypse wild and running rapid around them, the pair fight to survive in the horrifying world alongside their developing relationship. [ONGOING]
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. Anomalous

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoy this, chapters will be weekly if not every other day since I am writing other stories alongside this one!
> 
> \-------------
> 
> "Got me in the sad feels,
> 
> got me at a standstill,
> 
> too much time along is when it gets real"

**Anomalous**

Her pulse was skyrocketing in her throat as she sprinted throughout the forest, her wild steel-grey eyes trained on one thing only as she skittered around the trees with the cunningness of a fox. She could hear the moaning of walkers behind her, their hand grabbing at open air as she dodged their grasp from yanking on her faded blue hair. Her pierced eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she raced throughout the woods, her eyes searching for any sort of shelter that she could find. Clearly, there was nothing she could squat in so she turned her silver gaze to the trees, launching herself up onto a lower branch and climbing up the tree like a monkey. Her ebony compound bow and blue-handled machete clanged against her back as she moved, her feet getting a hold in on the branch below her before she hauled herself up with her upper body to the top branch and sat in the safety of the tree’s alcove.

The young woman’s back pressed against the bark of the tree as she rested, heaving in heavy gasps of air as she willed herself to calm down. Her metallic eyes glanced down to the grass below, where several walkers were gnawing at the trunk of the tree and scraping their dirty bloodied nails across the bark in an attempt to reach her. She huffed out an annoyed sigh, huddling her knees close to her chest as she glanced up at the bright sun in the sky. It would be easier to escape when it turned dark, but she didn’t exactly want to chance that when she could be grabbed easily in the little light that illuminated around her if she fled at moonlight. She could feel the harsh texture of her ebony-colored compound bow digging into her shoulder as she moved an inch, hissing at the pain as it dug in and scraped an opened cut on her left shoulder. She bit her lip worryingly, glancing to the pack she had flung earlier that laid pitifully near the walker’s feet while the blunette sat above in the tree. Her supplies were inside the large and hefty backpack, eyeing the american flag pendant that marked its front lazily. If she wanted to treat her cuts, she would need to somehow fetch the backpack and race away from the walkers altogether.

There was a _whizz_ of an arrow flying into the back of a walker’s skull below her, the arrow tipped with emerald green feathers and neatly sharpened. She eyed the arrow with a panicked look on her face, slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her breathing as the two other walkers were taken out with identical green-tipped arrows. She crouched low against the bark of the tree, wincing at the bow and machete that dug into her shoulder and back as she moved. Below her, there was a dirty-faced man with messy brunette hair, his face a mix of annoyance and impatience all-in-one. His eyes moved towards the pack that laid limply against the trunk of the oak tree she was hiding up in, his mesmerizing icy blue eyes honing in on it with a frown twitching at his mouth. He was mumbling something quietly to himself below her, a finger poking at the american flag pendant that had the initials _N.I.M._ scrawled beside it in a cursive writing.

His head rose as he looked around in an aggressive stance, hefting his crossbow up as he glanced around with a scowl on his dirtied face. The young woman above him held in her breath desperately, curling in on herself as the redneck man searched around the clearing with renewed curiosity. Her silver eyes locked onto the back of his head as he halted, his movements stilling as he turned around and rose his blue eyes to her position in the tree. She removed the hand from her mouth as he pointed his crossbow at her, directly aiming between her eyes before his lips moved in a hurried speech.

“Who are ‘ya? ‘Ye bitten?” His redneck husky voice drawled, watching as the blunette rose her hands up in surrender from her tiny spot in the tree. She shook her head quickly, meeting his gaze in a cool and collective manner as she willed her body to relax. “No, not bitten. I was running from the walkers, the ones you took out down there.” She told him hurriedly, her lilt in her voice honeyed with her words from the soft voice she carried. “I don’t mean any trouble, honest. I was just trying to get away from the walkers, live another day—y’know?”

He squinted at her suspiciously before lowering his crossbow, watching her every movement like a hawk as she easily climbed down the tree, landing in front of him with a cat-like grace. She bit her lip as rolled the silver lip ring that rested on her lower lip with an anxious look on her face, watching the redneck man in silence before he spoke.

“I was tracking a deer,” he told her gruffly. “Found ‘yer trail, decided ‘ta follow it. ‘Ye alone?”

She nodded, sticking a pale hand out that had a black combat glove wrapped around it due to the scars riddling her hand. She offered a small smile, her posture relaxed and at ease as she offered the friendly handshake to the man who was giving her a chance. “My name is Neptune, Neptune Malkovich. I’ve been alone from the start, actually.” Neptune used her free hand to scratch the back of her neck awkwardly, the redneck man letting out a grunt before shaking her hand and accepting the sign of peace. “What’s ‘ta I stand for then, ‘yer initials on ‘yer pack?” He questioned her, squinting at her through narrowed blue eyes.

Neptune laughed weakly, “Isabella. It’s my middle name. You didn’t give me your name, though.” She noted nervously, twiddling with her hands as he dropped the hand that he shook on. He tilted his head to the side as he answered her, eyeing the ebony compound bow that draped across her back and the blue-handled machete that was tucked beside it. “I’m Daryl, Daryl Dixon. ‘Ya have a bow too, ‘ya hunt with it?” He asked curiously, gnawing at his nails in an absent-minded manner.

She nodded as she leaned down to grasp the pack by her feet and slugged it over her shoulders, smiling at him faintly as he eyed her rosy-complexion and the wild look in her steel-grey eyes. “My pa taught me, I could help you track the deer you were looking to kill before you crossed my path,” she offered casually, surprise lingering in the man’s eyes as she continued. “I figured I could help you out, since you took out these rotting bastards.” She kicked her combat boot at one of their arrow-punctured skulls, cringing in disgust at the brain matter that leaked out of its skull.

Daryl nodded to her, inclining his head in a beckoning tilt while he looked at the leaf-covered ground for any deer tracks. He knelt on a knee, ears open and alert while his cool blue eyes searched the ground eagerly. Neptune hovered behind him silently, she too was looking around the area before Daryl let out a grunt of “ _c’mon_ ” before leading the way through the forest.

The area around them was littered with oak trees and similar little ones, the stream that trickled over pebbles and rocks a soft hymn to the two hunters as they trekked through the woods. The sun was beaming on them from above, it’s radiating light hovering over them and causing sweat to stick to the backs of their necks and into their clammy sweaty hands. Green brush and bushes littered around them, the dirt mucked with mud as the two silently made their way through the forest. Daryl had his crossbow relaxed lazily at his side, Neptune’s compound bow clutched in a strong grip of her right hand as she followed his lead. She eyed the quiet hunter from behind, seeing the white and pale tank that he sported and the dirty ragged jeans that he wore below. Neptune could tell the man didn’t speak often unless necessary, and she welcomed the silence that she was used to due to the long years of being alone during the apocalypse. Although, the company of another was something she yearned for and felt herself relaxing behind Daryl with a sigh of contentment wandering out of her lungs. Her combat boots dug into the ground and were covered with mud by the time they reached a wide open area in the forest, Daryl halting in his lithe movements and holding up a finger for a sign of _stop_. Neptune followed his command easily, coming to a stop behind him as the redneck in front of her raised his crossbow and squinted through the sight of it at a tawny-furred doe in the distance. Neptune raised her compound bow as soon as she caught sight of the animal, holding in her breath as she waited for Daryl to make the first shot.

His icy blues were locked onto the body of the doe, inhaling sharply as he tucked in an arrow into the slot and pulled back on the notch. He let go his breath as the arrow flew into the throat of the deer, the doe letting out a soft wail before shaking her head and attempting to move away. Daryl beckoned Neptune forward, the pair taking after the doe as the deer loped through the woods. Daryl’s steps were hurried now, Neptune pulling up beside him before the blunette placed an arrow in her compound bow, drawing the arrow back towards her easily and letting it go as it flew into the torso of the doe. It let out a disturbed bleat, the doe limping forward throughout the woods and out of sight as the two hunters followed after it eagerly.

There was a shrill cry that echoed from a child’s lungs as Neptune and Daryl sprinted forward, the pair following after the sound as they brushed the branches out of their face and pushed into the clearing of a camp where a blonde little girl stood crying and screaming at a walker gnawing on the doe’s flesh. A couple people flooded into view, a short-haired woman taking the blonde little girl and shielding her eyes from view of the horrifying situation. A man with a strong jaw and nose that had curly black hair eyed Daryl and Neptune with a scowl, an elderly man beside him shaking his head with the fishing hat he adorned upon his head.The strong jawed man broke forward, smashing a knife into the walker repeatedly along with a curly-haired blonde lady and two dark skinned man and woman observerators. 

Daryl let out an annoyed huff, shooting a green-tipped arrow into the walker’s skull with a shout. “Don’t y’all know ‘anything? ‘Ya shoot the brain, don’t ‘ya know that?” He eyed the way the walker slumped limply to the side, groaning in disbelief as he saw the gnawed part of their doe from the walker’s meal. He glanced at Neptune who looked equally as pissed as him, her shaking her head with a sigh before the redneck hunter smashed his boot into the walker with a cry: “You motherless, mongrel, poxy bastard! We can’t eat our deer now, you bitch!”

“Daryl, you need to calm down.” The elderly man chided him, earning a raised eyebrow from the blunette who stood beside the redneck. Clearly, Daryl had every right to be pissed when he had tracked the deer from dawn till dusk and even had the help of a newcomer to catch the damn thing.As the whisker-faced man turned towards Neptune, Daryl hefted the squirrels that dangled from his shoulders forward, shouting out for someone in a gruff tone of voice. “Merle! Merle, I’ve got squirrels ‘fer dinner!”

“Daryl, Daryl we need to talk. My name is Rick Grimes,” A man with a sheriff’s hat told the redneck, stepping forward with a muscular dark-skinned man and an korean man that adorned a cap behind him. The sheriff held a respectable demeanor, his hands placed on his hips and thumbs tucked into the belt that held up his jeans as he faced the redneck man with a somber blue gaze. “Your brother, Merle. We need to talk to you about him.”

Daryl looked as if he was on the edge of tearing up as he asked, “He dead?” His gruff voice was sad, something Neptune clearly hadn’t seen from the man yet as she stepped forward into the clearing and stood beside the korean man who glanced at her with wide brown eyes. “No, but he was left behind.” The man told him, his clean shaven face and pretty blue eyes almost looking forlorn and guilty. 

“Left behind? ‘Ta hell ‘ye mean by left behind?” Daryl barked angrily, the muscular dark skinned man coming up beside the sheriff with a guilt-ridden expression. “I dropped the key, we had to use handcuffs on the guy.”

“‘Ya couldn’t pick it up?” Daryl questioned sarcastically, Neptune snorting at his reply in amusement. The korean man beside her seemed relaxed as the young pretty blue-haired woman beside her chuckled, his stiff and tense posture settling down before the argument escalated. “It fell down a drain,” the man explained, Daryl tossing his head in anger before snarling at the men. “‘Yer tellin’ me, ‘ye tied ‘ma brother up, and ‘jus left him there?” He spat at them, Neptune’s eyes widening in realization from beside her place beside the korean man.

Daryl launched forward, throwing the dead squirrels at the group of men before Rick Grimes and seemingly his friend that had the dark eyes and curly black hair coming up to help the man get Daryl Dixon in a headlock to calm the frustrated redneck. “Daryl, you need to calm down. We’re going to go get him, alright? We’re going to go get your brother back.” 

“Choke hold’s illegal, y’know!” The redneck man shoved Rick off of him angrily in spite, snarling with so much venom that it burst inside him. Daryl’s heart squeezed painfully, the mere thought of his brother dead unfurling a sharp agony inside the man. It felt like tiny knives were stabbing at his heart, and a fist was clenched around it and squeezing till it popped. Neptune watched the turmoil spin inside Daryl, her sympathy boiling up to the surface for the man as she walked forward and put herself between him and the other men, anger marking her steel-grey eyes that floated around each man till they cowered and gave the two space. 

The blunette crouched in front of Daryl, looking up at him through his messy brown fringe as she began to speak to him. “We’re going to find Merle, no matter how much time it takes us. You helped me, so I am choosing to help you.” She told him gently, the redneck peering down at her through his bangs before slowly nodding, raising his head before grunting out: “C’mon then, let’s go.” He ordered in his gruff voice, Neptune following behind him with her cat-like movement while the korean boy spoke up from beside Rick. “I’ll go too, it’s only fair.” He muttered out, Rick shaking his head sadly and putting his hands on his hips.

“You just got back, and you’re already leaving?” A long-haired brunette woman spoke up angrily, looking between Rick and his partner with a scornful tone of voice. “We thought you were dead, and now you’re just going to up and leave us? Shane, c’mon—”

Shane shook his head at the distraught woman, eyeing the freckled blue eyed child that came up beside her and clung to her hand desperately with frightened eyes. “It is Rick’s decision, Lori. You know that.” Lori shook her head at him crossly, moving over to Rick and taking his head in her hands with scared eyes. “Please, please don’t go.” She pleaded with the blue eyed man, who shook his head at her with a determined set to his jaw.

“It’s only fair, Lori. We put him up on that roof, we lost that key. We owe him, do you understand?” Rick told her, the brown-eyed woman shaking her head with teary eyes as her son Carl walked up to his father with his big doe eyes and asked him: “If you have to go, it’s okay. You’ll come back though, right?”

Rick nodded at his son, ruffling his hair affectionately and steering the boy towards his mother. “I will come back, promise.” His voice was hoarse and sad, and as the weary-looking man turned towards the truck to meet the korean man and the faded blue haired woman, Daryl honked the horn of the truck and shouted: “We’re losing daylight, let’s go!”

Neptune laughed softly, raising her head to look at Rick before offering him a gloved hand. “I’m Neptune Malkovich, pleasure to meet you sheriff.” She jested, Rick Grimes in turn grinning crookedly at her in amusement. “Glad to have you on board, I take it you’re coming as well, Glenn?”

The korean man nodded, sighing heavily and shaking his head at Rick. “Merle Dixon’s a sonofabitch, but we owe it to Daryl to get him back. Can’t just let that bastard rot on the roof, y’know?” Rick nodded to Glenn, placing a hand on the opened truck and heaving himself up into the back of the cargo box. Glenn followed after him, glancing over his shoulder as the muscular man that Neptune figured his name was “T-Dog” decided to follow them in. Glenn screwed up his face in confusement, raising his hat up away from his fringe as he questioned the man. “T, really it’s okay. You don’t have to come with us.”

T-Dog scowled, “I dropped that key, it’s on me. Besides, it looks like we have a whole ass squad here.” He gestured to Neptune and the others, Daryl frowning when he pointed at the blunette. “Who is this chick, by the way? You Dixon’s new girl or somethin’?” 

Neptune held in a growl of annoyance, shaking her head as she unsheathed her blue-handled machete from her back and held it in her lap, using an index finger to pick at the tip absent-mindedly. “I’m not anyone’s _new_ girl, I chose to help him because the idiot saved me from walkers. Now he’s stuck with me.” She corrected immediately, Daryl scowling at her last comment. “I didn’t tell ‘ya that—”

“Daryl, shut the hell up and just let me help you.” Neptune snapped, her spit-fire personality coming to the surface as the man challenged her with a glare. He sat down in his seat finally when he realized he wouldn’t change her mind, huffing with an annoyed look as the blunette sat down beside Glenn with a triumphant look on her face.

Glenn turned to her with a wide-eyed stare, “You just told Dixon to shut up. Do you have a death wish, or something?” Neptune glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before tilting her head. “If I want to help someone, I do it. He can’t tell me what I can and cannot do.”

“Sounds just like my woman,” T-Dog uttered in disbelief, shaking his head when Neptune shot him a look. “You’d get along with her.”

“Her name’s Jacqui, right?” Neptune asked curiously, T-Dog nodding his head in response. “She’s pretty, has that whole _I’m here and there’s nothing you can do about it_ vibe, a strong ass woman right there.” T-Dog chortled in laughter, his laugh booming throughout the van as Rick started the gas and pressed the pedal firmly with his boot. 

Glenn smiled at Neptune, cocking his head like a puppy dog as he quizzed her. “So, you two met in the woods. What were you doing before you met, exactly? I take it from your big ass bow and machete no one fucked with you, right?”

“Daryl found me curled up in a tree like a monkey,” she told him dryly. “Before that, I was on my own for four years. Hadn’t had much human interaction, unless you count slicing and dicing walkers part of that.”

Glenn blinked in disbelief, looking at T-Dog who sported the same surprised expression. “How the hell did you get up in the tree?” T-Dog uttered, to whom Neptune simply replied: “I climbed, did you expect me to teleport up there?” She sarcastically asked.

T-Dog whistled airly through his lips, avoiding the woman’s eyes and whispering in Glenn’s ear: “She’s a feisty one, please for the _love of God_ — _don’t_ piss this woman off. I won’t be around to wipe up your entrails.” Glenn pushed his head away as he laughed, Neptune eyeing them with a smirk before resting her head against the wall of the truck. The back of the cargo section was pretty empty except for the supplies that the group was carrying with them, Neptune was leaned up against the back of Daryl’s seat as she readjusted for her own comfort, Glenn being against the opposite wall and chattering with T-Dog quietly. She could feel a pair of eyes on her as Rick glanced at her out of the corner of his blue eyes, a small smile slipping onto his features. She turned her head to narrow her steel-grey eyes at him, tugging at her pierced bottom lip. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You remind me of this one kid I had to interrogate once,” Rick drawled in his southern voice. Neptune perked up at the sound of a story, resting her chin on her palm as she leaned against the back of Daryl’s seat. She heard Daryl huff in his seat, the redneck silent as Rick Grimes continued his tale. “She was real sassy, real tough. I think she was a street fighter, honestly. She had her hands wrapped up and they were bloody, you could see some of her nails were missing and there were countless bruises all over her body.”

Neptune raised a thin eyebrow. “Are you calling me sassy, sheriff?” Rick guffawed at that, shaking his head as he laughed heartily. “You two just seem similar, very hot-headed and not afraid to pick a fight. She had her hair dyed like you too, except it was purple.”

She wrinkled her nose, “I would never dye my hair purple, but thanks I guess.” Neptune chuckled nervously, tucking her knees up against her chest and resting her head on them. She glanced at the mirror on her right, seeing Daryl staring into it and looking at her blankly. Neptune offered a small smile, waving with a tiny hand as he cracked a rare grin before shaking his head and looking away. She could tell the man had a lot on his mind, and with the hawk-eye glances he shot at her she knew that she fell along those lines. She volunteered to find his brother, and Neptune knew that the redneck was a bit appreciative at that. As she looked around the group with a heavy-lidded gaze, her heart warmed up at the thought of a home within the group. Whether that be helping out Daryl, or the group out—she would do anything to guarantee a safe haven where she felt comfortable.

The city was quiet, too quiet as they rolled in their truck and exited the back with their weapons in tow. Rick was at the head of their line, Daryl second behind him whilst Neptune followed behind Glenn. T-Dog had a somber expression on his face as they followed Rick into the building, guilt lacing his eyes as he glanced around at the walkers that were in the room. Daryl wrinkled his nose as he aimed at a female walker: “You are one ugly skank,” he commented before shooting the bolt into its skull, the tip of the arrow popping out of its mouth. Neptune scoffed, aiming her machete at the spare walker and decapitating it. She stuck the blade through its eyes, removing the machete cleanly and shaking it till the blood poured off. Daryl and her glanced at each other with a challenging stare before he followed Rick up the stairs, putting his crossbow on his back as the rest of them followed after the redneck.

As they moved up the stairs and used a wrench to unlock the chain that held the door tight, Daryl burst through the door shouting: “Merle, Merle, goddammit where are ‘ya?” Neptune moved out behind Glenn, T-Dog staring straight at a hand that was cut off and loose beside handcuffs that were tied to a pole. She heard Daryl cry out in anguish, raising his hands over his head and shouting in disbelief. 

Neptune moved quickly to the hand, eyeing the cut and then eyeing the blood trail that went past the door and down. “Daryl,” she called to him, pointing at the trail of blood with a shaky finger. “I think he went to cauterize it. Let’s follow the trail and see where it leads, okay?”

Daryl nodded at her, taking out a durag from his pocket and scooping up the lifeless hand and wrapping it around the red durag. He walked over to Glenn, flipping open his pack and slipping the hand inside. Glenn groaned in disgust, shivering inwardly as he followed his group down the stairs with the hand in his backpack. Neptune followed beside Daryl in stride, eyeing the stove that smelled of blood and something burning. 

She pointed at the stove, nudging Daryl’s shoulder. “He definitely cauterized it and left, took out the walkers here that are dead on the ground. Must have wandered off somewhere afterwards.”

“Sonofabitch can’t die, nothing can kill Merle but Merle, feed him iron he’d shit out nails.” Daryl told them determinedly, glancing at Neptune through his messy fringe. “We gotta find ‘em, we ‘goin?” He questioned Rick, the blue-eyed sheriff hesitating as he looked between him and the group nervously. 

Glenn opened his mouth to speak, looking to Rick pointedly with a sheepish look. “We have to go get those guns too, why don’t we get the _guns_ and _then_ track down Merle?”

Daryl shook his head angrily, “No, we get Merle first. No other options, guns later.” Rick frowned, scratching his chin in thought as he looked between the korean man and the redneck who was desperate to get his brother back. 

“That’s a shit load of guns to leave behind,” T-Dog agreed with Glenn, looking at Daryl with an apologetic look. “Sorry man, but we need to think of the group too.”

His nostrils flared in anger as he spit out, “I can’t believe this shit.” He paced the room with a frustrated expression, stopping only to look at Neptune to ask her opinion. “What do you think, huh? ‘Ye came with me to get my brother, right?”

She looked at him with a blank look. “Is that even a question? I told your ass I was coming whether you like it or not.”

“So it’s two against two, right? Rick’s gotta break the tie.” Glenn suggested awkwardly, being stared at by two angry people was starting to make him sweat. Neptune hovered at Daryl’s side, her stance looking like she was ready to pounce if anything went wrong.

Rick looked at the group before sighing, “We need to get the guns first. Then, the first thing we do is find Merle.” Neptune scoffed, Daryl holding in a snarl of anger as the sheriff placed a hand on the redneck’s shoulder apologetically. “I promise you, we will find your brother.”

Daryl slowly nodded, biting his thumb as he answered the man. “‘Ye better, not leavin’ my brother behind like y’all did.” Glenn and T-Dog looked away at the comment, choosing to stay silent as Rick turned to Neptune. The sheriff and young woman locked eyes, “I trust you to stick by him, alright? If all goes wrong, you two can go find his brother together.”

“Of course, Daryl saved my life. I owe him a debt,” She told him easily, the redneck beside her ears reddening as she boasted his feat. “Now, are we going to go or just going to sit on our asses staring at each other?”

Rick laughed heartily, beckoning them with a wave of his hand as the group pulled in behind him. As the group made their way to the alley, Neptune’s belly churned with an uneasy feeling. She stuck by Daryl’s side, her head low as she examined their surroundings. The sun beamed down on them from above, sweat sticking to the back of Neptune’s neck as her blue hair stuck against her stick from the Georgia heat. Her eyes trailed over to a bundle laying in the road, Rick perking up as he zoomed over to it and unzipped the pack with glee. The sheriff grasped a hat in his hand, slipping it onto his head as Glenn moved to his side with an amused snort. “Admit it, you just came back for the hat.” He jested lightly. Rick chuckled, shaking his head as he grasped a M4 and threw it to T-Dog. The man caught it easily, glancing at Daryl who was pacing like a rabid animal. Neptune put a hand on the redneck’s arm, halting his movements as the blue eyed man met her eye.

“We’re going to find your brother, don’t worry.” She told him, Daryl fighting the urge to move away from her until she spoke. “I’ll make sure we do, you can count on me. You saved my life, remember? I owe you a life debt.”

“It was just a couple walkers,” he protested weakly. She shook her head at him, smiling gently as she walked away.

“It was more than that, to me.”

  
  



	2. Demise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes after Merle's track once recovering the guns, running into some trouble along the way. Once they get out of it, the group heads back to camp and finds a demise awaiting them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters will be a bit random but I'll make sure to do one weekly, or more than that given how much I want to write. I'm juggling Calamity and Pandemonium at the same time so bear with me haha!
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> "I had a dream,
> 
> I got everything I wanted,
> 
> Not what you'd think,
> 
> And if I'm being honest,
> 
> It might've been a nightmare,
> 
> To anyone who might care."

**Demise**

The alley was somewhat quiet, and it was getting on the blunette's nerves. She stood beside Glenn Rhee, his cap that laid over his hair protecting him from the humid heat of Georgia. Neptune could see Daryl behind the dumpster, hefting his crossbow up and pointing it around the corner as he eyed the space ahead. His pale blues examined the fence ahead, seeing a blur of movement as a tan-skinned boy rounded the corner with another man beside him. Neptune grabbed Glenn by the back of his shirt, lugging him beside her as the korean man opened his mouth in protest. "They could know where Merle is," Glenn told her weakly. "Why not ask them? We have Daryl and you on our side if anything goes wrong."

Neptune scoffed at Glenn, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, sure. I'll throw my machete at them in the forehead if anything goes wrong. Then, Daryl will use his combat knife and stab the other guy. You really want more blood on our hands?" Daryl cast her a glance, the clogs in his mind moving as if in deep thought. As the two young man wandered closer to their position, Glenn jumped out from behind Neptune's side and threw his hands up in surrender. The blunette cursed under her breath, looking at Daryl who nodded to her to move immediately. The two mexican men were speaking something in spanish, fluently from what Neptune could hear as they interrogated Glenn with their guns raised at his temple.

"Hey, hey! We mean no trouble, we're just looking for a man. Is he with you?" Glenn asked them, the two mexican man looking at each other before aiming a shot at Glenn. Glenn maneuvered out of the way, startled by the gun shot as Daryl hefted his crossbow up on his muscular arms and shot a green-tipped bolt into one of the man's arses. They yelped out in retort, trying to get around to pull the crossbow bolt out of their ass. Neptune stifled a laugh at the situation, diving forward to lock her arms around the younger man and haul him backward with her upper arm strength. The other men swarmed around Glenn, grabbing him by his arms and hauling him up into the back of their van. Glenn called out to Neptune and Daryl, the two hauling the young man with them before Neptune dropped him and raced towards Glenn.

"Neptune, what the hell are you 'doin?" Daryl shouted after her, gripping the young mexican boy by the back of his shirt as he looked on in desperation. The blue-haired woman rushed forward, launching in the air as she propelled herself off the wall and kicked one of the men attempting to take Glenn hostage in the skull. As she dropped, they grabbed her too, getting a grip on her legs as they swore at her in spanish: "¡Perra! Me pateó en el maldito cráneo. ¡Llévala con nosotros!" Their tone was clipped and sharp, Daryl looking on in horror from his grip on the young mexican boy as they shoved her in the back of the van with Glenn. He could hear her kicking on the back of the van as it shut, them jumping in the passenger and driver seat as they drove away.

Daryl shot forward, panic in his eyes as he heard the fluent speech being shouted from the van, "Daryl, jag klarar mig. Skär bara upp de här jävlarna!" The speech was cut off and hurried, but he understood that the woman was trying to convey that she would be fine. A brush of movement from the door wandered towards Daryl, Rick and T-Dog coming into view as they overlooked the situation. 

"What the hell happened? Where's Glenn and Neptune?" Rick questioned the redneck quickly, looking at the kicking and spitting mexican boy who was caught in Daryl's harsh grip. Daryl raised his baby blues to Rick's stare, T-Dog glancing between the two before putting his hands over his head in an understanding. "They took 'em. Neptune kicked one of them in the skull, so they took her too." He told them gruffly, gnawing on his thumb nervously as he looked between T-Dog and Rick. "We gotta get 'em back. Merle could be there, too."

Rick Grimes nodded, T-Dog taking hold on the young mexican boy they had captured as the boy cursed out in spanish. "¡Vete a la mierda! ¡Le disparas te al a mi hermano!"

"English, please." Rick breathed out with a sigh, the kid spitting in his face as they hauled him to a spot in the city and set him down roughly on the concrete ground. Rick had a stern expression upon his clean shaven face, anger mixing in his expression as Daryl jolted forward. He clasped the pack that T-Dog wore around his back, taking out the hand that Merle had cut off and shoving it in the kid's face. "See this? This is what happened to the last person that messed with me. Start talking, now." Daryl's words were harsh and cruel, sparking fear in the young boy's gaze as he nodded furiously. 

"You took our guns, we came after you." The boy said mockingly, a grin on his tanned face. "Now they're gonna string up that ninja bitch and her chinese friend."

At his words, Daryl bristled and spat in the kid's face: "He's korean, and she's more than a damn ninja bitch. Where did you take our people?"

The mexican kid rose his head, his eyes wandering between Rick and Daryl with a grimace. "My name's Miguel, you shot my brother. Those guns are ours, you won't get your friends back without them." T-Dog and Daryl were hovering near Rick, awaiting what the Grimes man would do next. "We'll make a trade, with your people." Rick drawled in his southern tongue, pointing a finger at the boy before Daryl shoved a cover over the boy's head to shield his eyesight. "We'll trade you, for our friends. Maybe then, we'll share 'them guns."

As Miguel led the way to the Vatos Gang, Daryl had his crossbow aimed and ready, T-Dog's weapon twirling in his hand as well. Rick Grimes had the swagger of a sheriff as he ushered the young boy towards the entrance, immediately guns being pointed at the group from a fella known as Felipe. "You usher my brother back here, and then dare to point weapons at us? I don't think so." Felipe snapped, Daryl narrowing his eyes pointedly at the man as Felipe's gang gathered around him in hushed whispers. "We have your friends, I hope you remember that. We'll feed them to our dogs, if you're not careful." He gestured with a finger up above, a familiar shock of blue hair being pushed towards the edge of the roof, alongside the familiar korean boy who screamed through his muffled gag. Neptune looked down at Daryl, meeting his baby blues as he fought to get closer to her but was held back by Felipe.

"'You better give 'em back," Daryl growled out angrily, his eyes locked onto Neptune's who seemed to find an understanding with his words below. Felipe smirked, glancing up at the dangling blunette. "Your girl put up a bit of a fight, has crazy cat-like reflexes, that one."

Daryl Dixon's ears reddened. "Not 'ma girl. Just a friend." He corrected quickly, eyebrows furrowing with Neptune kicked out one of the man's feet that was holding her from under him. They quarreled, fighting to gain control of the blunette as he jabbed her elbow back into their nose, cracking it. She screamed through her gag, anger radiating off her with crazy look in her eye. Her blue hair was like a bright tsunami that covered her face as she fought back, Glenn reaching out to her beside him. Felipe _tsked_ with his tongue, Daryl starting forward with a pissed off look.

"Felipe! Felipe, it's Mr Gilbert! He's sick—" an elderly woman pushed through, reaching Felipe before looking up at the men as the Vatos protested that she should get back. "Are these the men that you said would help him?"

"Abuela, you shouldn't be out here. No es seguro aquí, Abuela." Felipe pleaded with the elderly woman, Abuela simply shaking him off and coming to a stop in front of Rick Grimes. "Please, will you help? We need medicine."

Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog all exclaimed looks, slowly nodding before following Abuela to the back. Felipe and Miguel tagged along unwillingly, watching as the room was transformed into a room full of the elderly, tiny chihuahuas seated on their tiny beds and practically helping one another. Daryl's eyes chased around the room frantically, Glenn being spotted first as the korean man walked up to him and grinned sheepishly. "They just wanted medicine, and guns to protect their people. We can at least give them that, right?"

The redneck huffed, patting Glenn on the top of his cap as the man pointed over his shoulder. Daryl glanced over, seeing the restrained blue-haired woman cuffed to a chair that sported a glare so vicious the elderly shivered when they looked at her. He almost smiled as he walked over to her, leaving Rick to speak with Felipe and the others. Daryl crouched down in front of her, undoing the chain around her hand with a smirk. "Did 'ya have fun?" Neptune looked down at Daryl, fighting a grin as she looked at him. "I gave them hell for capturing me, obviously. I was okay, though." He snorted, rising to his feet as the young woman bounced on the balls of her feet and padded over to Rick Grimes. The sheriff man cocked his head at her curiously, "How come Glenn was the only one that behaved out of the two of you?"

Neptune stared at Rick blankly. "Really? You're asking me that?" She asked dully, crossing her arms as she glared at Felipe. The man cringed, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "She was quite a lot to deal with, honestly I'm glad you're taking her off our hands." He skidded away from the blunette, obviously terrified as the girl stormed forward, taking her machete from off the table and pointing it at him threateningly. "You take what you need, then leave us the hell alone." She ordered with a growl, the man holding his hands up in surrender. "Also, don't try and cheap skate Rick. He's not as gullible as you think he is." Neptune pushed past the men, the room watching wide-eyed as the woman left the building in a brisk pace. Daryl looked after her with a puzzled expression, brushing past Rick and Glenn as he followed after the blunette with a furrowed brow.

He rounded the corner, following the young woman out and tilting his head as she stopped with her hands on her hips. "Daryl, can I ask you something?" She mused aloud, the man huffing out a small: "'Yeah."

"If you had the choice to trade, but you were running short on supplies and had a group of your own to look after, would you take the risk to share when your own people could need it more?" Neptune murmured, Daryl walking to her side with a thoughtful look on his face. "In the end, the main thing we need to take care of is our own. If we have to be the asshole, in order to survive—then maybe we have to be the asshole."

Daryl and Neptune locked gazes, the two seemingly coming to an agreement as she cracked a shy smile. "I'm not wrong, am I?" She questioned wearily, Daryl shaking his head as he raised his head to look at her.

"'Nah, 'yer not." He told her gently, his 'twang coming into fruition as he spoke. "We've all got to look after our own, just like 'ya said." Neptune nodded to him, glancing at the entrance where Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog walked out of. She looked to Rick, the man sporting his sheriff hat as he beckoned his group towards the direction of their van. Neptune fell in beside Daryl, the two briefly brushing hands as they walked beside one another.

As they neared the street where the van should have been, Daryl's eyes widened as they took in the tire tracks that led down the road. "I take it that your brother stole the van?" Neptune pointed out dryly. Daryl grunted with a nod, looking up at Rick and Glenn who sported annoyed expressions. "He's 'gonna be 'bringin hell to camp." As the group felt uneasiness and began their running down the road, exhaustion seeped in quickly as they made their way back to camp with the bag of guns.

* * *

The sky was a dark navy blue, stars twinkling like little orbs in the sky as the group neared the camp. They could hear screaming and yelling, the alarm ringing in their ears as they sprinted fast towards the camp. Neptune pulled up beside Daryl, whipping her machete around like a sword as she stabbed multiple walkers in the head, her back pressed against Daryl's as they moved in a circle strategically. He shot a bolt towards one's head, getting the zombie off Andrea who nodded gratefully to the Dixon man. Rick was using his signature python pistol, shooting the barrel into a walker's head that was circling Lori and Carl. Andrea pulled up at Rick's side, Glenn and T-Dog helping the rest. The group was moving as quick as they could, Neptune even pulling out her ebony compound bow and letting a blue-tipped arrow loose as it lodged into the temple of a walker.

"Daryl, please do your best to watch in front of you. I'll watch your back," Neptune muttered out quickly, the brunette at her back grunting in reply. She pulled her compound bow back into its strap, swinging her machete forward and decapitating a female walker in front of her. She stabbed the blade through it's skull, putting a rest to it's constant moaning. She heard a scream from behind her, turning Neptune's attention to Andrea's sister Amy who was being chewed on by a walker. "Daryl, I'll go help out. Stay here, I'll be back." The man opened his mouth to protest, watching with a wild expression as the blunette dove forward towards Amy. She launched forward, bringing her blade down upon the walker and slicing it's head open from head to mouth. Amy was crying, holding her neck that was spurting blood from the bite that she had received from the walker.

Neptune glanced up, seeing Andrea sprinting towards them with a scared look in her blue eyes. "Hey, what the hell happened?" The blonde pony-tailed woman shouted, fear flooding into her eyes as she saw the blood spurting from her sister's neck. "Malkovich, could you help her? Please? I don't want to lose my baby sister." Neptune looked at the fearful woman, seeing the panic in her eyes made an uneasy feeling churn in her stomach. The blunette was soaked in blood from head to toe, blood clotted in her hair and brains from the walkers. She looked like a walking nightmare, the pure image of a chaotic monster swirling into vision. She simply nodded to Andrea, ordering quickly: "I need some gauze to cover the wound, I'll look after her until then." Andrea breathed a relieved sigh, disappearing into Dale's RV in search of medical supplies.

"Neptune," a gruff voice called to her, the blunette looking up to glance at Daryl who stood above her as she laid the blonde teenager down and covered her neck as much as she could. "She's bit. Not much 'ya can do 'fer her." Daryl drawled bluntly, a flash of understanding echoing in Neptune's eyes as she looked down at the dying blonde. "I know that, Dixon. I'm simply just putting a bandage on the wound. Not going to let the little one die miserably, y'know?"

He grunted, lowering into a crouch beside her as he glanced at her hair with a frown. He could smell the stench of blood that was covering her, raising his hand and proceeding to pick the brain matter out of her blue hair. Neptune stiffened considerably, crazed eyes looking up at the crouching male as he halted his movement. She let out a sigh, dipping her head and allowing him to clean out the brains from her hair. It was morbid, disgusting—but Daryl did his best to clear out the muck from her hair with a concentrated look. She heard the RV door close, raising her head to see Andrea with the blood draining from her pale face. The blonde put a hand over her mouth in a muffled sob, seeing her sister limp and the eyes rolling back into her head as she choked on blood.

"Amy, please no. It's going to be okay!" Andrea exclaimed weakly, pressing the gauze to the neck wound as her sister choked on her own blood. "It's going to be okay," Andrea repeated numbly, Neptune and Daryl removing themselves and walking a few lengths away as they watched the mourning blonde.

"She's gonna turn," Daryl muttered to his companion bluntly. "Then she's gonna bite her sister. You know how this works, Neptune." She nodded slowly in reply, folding her arms against her chest as she looked at the massacred camp with a sad look in her eye. "I know, we did the best we could." Neptune told him softly. "She got bit in the neck, I saw the walker tear off a chunk. There was no way to remedy that, no way at all."

The camp was silent as they watched Andrea mourn over her dying sister, a dark aura flooding over them. Daryl stood beside Neptune, the crossbow man looking deep in thought. Her blue hair cascaded down her back, bangs flowing over her eyes as she examined the camp thoroughly. Rick was with his family, Shane Walsh a few beats away and looking on them with a jealous look in his brown eyes. From her side beside Daryl, she could read the entire situation with a grimace on her face. Clearly, there was something going on there. The moon in the sky gleamed it's white glow, the illuminating rays from the moon flowing down around the camp with a solemn hymn.

It was death that carried it, and death would remain as long as the walkers roamed the world.

No one was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed, will update as soon as I can!

**Author's Note:**

> Will update as soon as possible <3


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